Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

I'm speaking in cliches today because while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, an image is also worth a thousand words. Which means 104 images edited together rapid-fire style must be worth 104,000 words. And that's a lot.

And here are a few up close detail shots of the wall. Do you see any of your favorite books amongst our Baby Mouse collection?

  

 

 

Aren't our kids talented?

Black History Month: Magic Trash

I like to think of myself as a pretty crafty person. And a creative one too. So it just about kills me that I'd 1) never heard of Tyree Guton, 2) this book or 3) a program using found objects until Ms. Erin came along and introduced me to Magic Trash . Here she is in her own words to explain my favorite Black History Month program EVER!

I’m Lucy’s colleague, Ms. E, and it’s an honor to be guest posting here at  In the Children’s Room.  I wanted to talk about a recent program that I did for Black History Month—I really wanted to do something that would be different, hands-on, and engaging for a range of ages. Also, I knew I wanted to focus the program around a less well-known figure, maybe even one who was still alive.

Somehow (I honestly don’t remember how at this point) I learned about the picture book biography Magic Trash (text by Jane Shapiro, illustrations by Vanessa Brantley Newton). Inspired by the life of Detroit artist Tyree Guyton, it tells the story of how Guyton grew up as a poor but art-obsessed kid and later returned to his neighborhood of Heidelberg Street as an adult. Determined to uplift and inspire, Guyton turned houses and vacant lots into pieces of installation art that people travel from far and wide to see. 

I decided to collect trash and various found objects (aka “junk”) and invite each child attending the program to create their own found-object sculpture.  I collected some items myself, but also sent an email request to our list of all children’s staff, and received contributions from 4 or 5 other staff members. There were some interesting boxes in the inter-office mail!    I specifically requested coffee cans, used-up paper towel rolls, egg cartons and soda bottles.

The only things that I purchased for the program were two bottles of epoxy glue (about $4.50 each) from the local art supply store.  I did add some craft supplies from our cabinet at work: popsicle sticks, colorful construction paper, fuzzy puffballs, pipe cleaners, and buttons, as well as a few plastic toys we had lying around. 

I did this program for the first time last year, but it was at a different library with a different group of kids, so I was a little nervous about attendance and how it would be received. I shouldn’t have worried, because it went really well!  Our participants ranged in age from 4 (assisted by an adult) to 12, and included a number of our regular after-school kids, as well as some younger ones who came specifically for the program and were accompanied by parents/nannies.

I adapted the text a little as I was reading, because it sometimes feels simultaneously too young and too old; the real star was Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s illustrations. Many of the older kids know her art style from the covers of the Ruby Booker series, and some of the younger ones had read Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless The Table. I also printed off a bunch of color photographs of Tyree Guyton and various installations on Heidelberg Street to pass around; I wanted the kids to get a vivid sense of him as a real person working in a real place, and to be able to compare the actual installations with Brantley-Newton’s paintings.

After that, I explained the project and brought out the supplies; there was some minor scuffling (from the big kids!) over sharing supplies, but fortunately Lucy was there to moderate behavior while I put out supplies and gave a quick explanation of how to use epoxy glue and why younger ones should ask an adult to help them. 

Everyone had a great time coming up with ideas and sharing them!  There were a few moments of frustration with the epoxy glue’s slowness to dry, as well as a couple of people who were concerned about sensitivity to fumes. (ed: That was me, I am stupid sensitive to smells and had to leave the room at one point.) I deliberately chose an adhesive with a slower drying time because I needed something that could hold heavier items, but I didn’t want kids gluing themselves together with super glue.  If there’s a less-toxic but still strong adhesive, I’d be interested in suggestions.  

Most of the children took their projects home, but a few left them for us to display, which has provided an opportunity to share the story of Tyree Guyton and Heidelberg Street with others who weren’t able to attend the program. I generally don’t think of myself as a “crafty person” and don’t have an art background, but I love projects like this that are discovery-oriented and don’t require specialized knowledge.  I’m already trying to brainstorm the next outside-the-box idea to introduce kids to great thinkers and creators!

Thanks Ms. Erin! It really was a great program and we have kids who see the display ask if they can make their own all the time. Below are a few more pictures of our Magic Trash Sculptures. Enjoy!

Flannel Friday: Dig Into Summer Reading

Okay everyone, today we're going to dig a hole all the way to the center of the earth. Does everyone have their shovel? Okay good, let's get started. Dig, dig, dig.

The first layer we have to dig through is called the crust. It's what we're standing on right now. All the plants and grass grow on top of the crust and deeper down you'll find all sorts of cool rocks, fossils and precious stones like emeralds and rubies.*

Phew, now we're through the crust. Let me see those shovels because we're going to have to dig some more. Go on, let me see you dig.

Good, we're going to have to dig even more though because the next layer is called the mantle and it's the thickest. The mantle is 400 hundreds miles thick! Imagine if you got in a car and drove all the way to South Carolina**, has anyone ever been to South Carolina? It's a long ways away. Now imagine driving that far straight down. That's how thick the mantle is! So let's get out that shovel and keep digging...

YES! We got through the mantle! High five! But, uh-oh! The next layer of the earth is called the outer core and it's so hot down there that everything is liquid! It's like the molten lava that comes out of volcanoes but much much hotter. I hope you guys are wearing protective suits. You're not? Well, let's put them on now.

Suits on? Awesome. Okay, get out those shovels and keep digging. We have one layer left. Let's dig!

The last layer is called the inner core and it's even hotter than the out core! In fact, the inner core is as hot as the surface of the sun! Unlike the outer core, the inner core is completely solid because it's got everything else, the crust, the mantle and the outer core pressing in on it and making  it all stick together. Like when you're playing with play dough and you pack it into a really tight, tiny ball with your hands.

 Let's not stay here too long. I'm getting really hot. Now we could keep digging. And we'd go through the outer core and the mantle and the crust on the other side. But if we did that, do you know where we'd come out? Nope, not in China. We'd be in the middle of the Indian Ocean!*** I'm not that good of a swimmer though so let's go back the way we came.

What's this layer called? And this one? And this one? The last one? Good job, you guys, we traveled all the way to the center of the earth and back again! And now that we're back here on the surface, the crust, let's sing a song.

* You can use any facts that you want when talking about the different layers of the earth. This one is aimed at the interest/attention span of toddler and preschool. If I was going to take it to outreach, I'd get a little more technical.

** Northern South Carolina is about 400 miles from us and a lot of our kids have family in North and South Carolina. So pick whatever works for you to convey a very long distance. Driving for 6.5 hours would also work. Assuming an average speed of 60 mph.

*** There are some cool google map hacks that let you type in your zip code and then see where you'd pop out if you could dig a hole through the middle of the earth. But everywhere in continental North America puts you somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Alaska and Hawaii are more interesting.

Flannel Friday: Dig Into Summer Reading special edition is hosted today by Lisa at Libraryland and as always you can get more information about Flannel Friday at the official website. 

Theme Thursday: Please Mr. Postman

Try as I might, I just couldn't figure out a way to use The Marvelettes song during our story time. A reference in the blog post was about as good as I could do.

Song: Good Monring Dear Earth

Flannel: Alphabet Soup- MAIL

Book: I Miss You Every Day by Sims Tabek

 

Song: Mail Myself to You

Finger Play: 2 Little Black Birds

Song: Jumping and Counting from Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem and More Salutes to Nonsense 

Song: Grand Old Duke of York

Flannel: A Tisket a Tasket

Book: Larabee by Kevin Luthardt

 

 Song: Itsty Bitsy Spider

Song: Turn Around from Getting to know Myself

Make and Take Craft: Decorate Your Own Stamps

Did you know that you can submit your own stamp design to the United States Postal Service? The guidelines were a little strict for my kiddos so we just decorated label/sticker paper instead

Supplies:

-label/sticker paper

-markers

-design cut scissors

Process:

I cut the label paper into quarters using ridged scissors. Then I wrote .42 in the top right corner (although apparently the price of stamps has gone up since I last checked. I personally am a fan of FOREVER stamps, but they don't have the cool designs). After story time I passed out markers and the kids decorated their own stamps to take home and stick on over sized letters!

Time: prep took 5 minutes, the craft took 15.

Mermaids

This is a program from way back in the no-camera days of October and November when our system was celebrating the European Union. My chosen country was Denmark, and what better way to introduce older kids to Denmark than through Hans Christian Andersen and his most beloved story The Little Mermaid?

 

Using large pieces of butcher paper, I traced the upper half of everyone's body and then finished them off with a mermaid tail. The kids then used glitter, yarn, markers, stamps and sequins to decorate their very own mermaids.

I thought the biggest interest group would be children 4-8. While there were some younger kids who came and enjoyed themselves, we had a surprising number of older tween and even a few teens who got really into glamming up their mermaids.

Flannel Friday: We're Going to the Zoo

We had a zoo themed story time a few weeks ago and using mostly pieces that I already had I was able to do an approximation of Rod Campbell's Dear Zoo, a book that I love and that we only have as a Chinese board book.

I started by telling the kids that I'd written the zoo a letter to ask for a pet. Then I described each animal that they sent me and asked them to guess what the animal was before I out it on the board.

The first animal they sent me was soooooo tall and he ate leaves all day long.

It was a... giraffe! But he didn't fit in my house so I had to send him back.



The next animal they sent me was big and heavy. He had a long trunk and big flapping ears.

It was an.... elephant! But he kept eating all the peanuts from the kitchen so I had to send him back.



The third animal they sent me had a loooooong tail and great big teeth that went CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP. 

It was an... alligator! But he scared my mom so I had to send him back.

So the people at the zoo thought long and hard. And the last animal they sent me was small and wriggly with a wagging tail and he went woof woof woof.

They sent me a... dog! And he was just right for me so I kept him!


I also used flannel versions of the elephant, a bear, a seal and a monkey to talk about all the animals that are in the Peter, Paul and Mommy version of Tom Paxton's "Daddy's Taking Us to the Zoo Tomorrow." We went over animal sounds and actions so that they would know what to do when we danced to the song.

Flannel Friday is hosted this week by K Leigh at Storytime ABCs. For more information on Flannel Friday visit the official website.

Themeless Thursday: Hodge Podge

I went to a roundtable on Teen Mental Health on Thursday so I missed our usual theme story time. I did do a baby story time on Tuesday though. So here's that...

Song: Good Morning Dear Earth

Song: Hello, Hello to You and You and You

Finger Play: I Had a Turtle

Song: Open, Shut Them

Baby Bounce: Criss Cross, Line, Line

Book: And the Train Goes... by William Bee

 

 Flannel: I Had a Rooster 

Song: Shake My Sillies Out from The Singable Songs Collection (20th Anniversary Special Edition) 

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knee and Toes

Book: What's Your Sound, Hound the Hound? By Mo Willems

 

Flannel: Valentine Tree

Finger Play: 2 Little Blackbirds

Song: Turn Around

Make and Take Craft: Valentine Trees

I prepped this craft for after the Valentine's Day story time that I missed on Thursday.

Time: Prep took 15 minutes, craft usually takes about 20.